Mel Gibson Is Planning a ‘Passion of the Christ’ Sequel

Faith-based films have been riding a wildly successful wave for several years now, only recently stumbling a bit with the underwhelming box office returns for God’s Not Dead 2. And while that seemed to indicate that faithful audiences might not be too keen on sequels, Mel Gibson may very well prove that theory wrong as the actor and director is apparently plotting a sequel to The Passion of the Christ.

Braveheart scribe Randall Wallace tells THR that he’s working on a script for a sequel to The Passion of the Christ, which — as you might guess — would center on the resurrection of Jesus three days after his crucifixion and burial. Wallace says he’s been kicking around a Passion follow-up with Gibson for quite some time, though the two only seriously committed to the project while filming Hacksaw Ridge, Gibson’s new World War II drama starring Andrew Garfield.

In addition to his Oscar-nominated work on Braveheart and his writing credit on Hacksaw Ridge, Wallace recently wrote and directed Heaven Is For Real, based on Todd Burpo’s bestselling book about his son’s near-death experience — like Passion, that film was also a massive hit.

The Passion of the Christ remains the most successful independent film of all time, earning $612 million worldwide with a reported budge of just $30 million. Released in 2004, Gibson’s film about the life and crucifixion of Jesus Christ was particularly notable in its depiction of violence and gore — the kind of stuff you don’t usually see in a religious film.

As of now, the Passion sequel has no production studio or distributor, but if Wallace and Gibson are serious, it shouldn’t be long before the project incites a bidding war.